Blended Scotch model Chivas Regal has launched its first 16-year-old whisky, co-created by Components One driver Charles Leclerc.
The whisky is Leclerc’s first signature mix for Chivas Regal, having signed up as international model ambassador for the model in a multi-year partnership final March.
Leclerc’s Components One crew, Scuderia Ferrari HP, can be a companion of the model.
“16 has at all times been greater than a quantity to me – it’s one thing I’ve carried my complete profession,” Leclerc mentioned. “Going to Scotland, seeing the distilleries, understanding the obsession behind each cask impressed me to create my very own mix. Chivas Regal and I share the identical perception that the usual you set right now is simply the place to begin.”
Leclerc collaborated on the mix with Chivas Brothers’ former grasp blender Sandy Hyslop, who retired on the finish of final yr.
The whisky blends 16 ‘distinctive’ whiskies, every aged at the very least 16 years. A Sherry cask-matured Longmorn single malt, hand-selected by Leclerc on a go to to Scotland, was on the coronary heart of the mix.
The quantity 16 is alleged to have performed a defining half in Leclerc’s life and profession, representing each his race quantity and his birthday (16 October).
“I pushed Sandy to go additional,” Leclerc continued. “He pushed me to assume otherwise. Chivas Regal 16 felt just like the pure subsequent step in our partnership, creating one thing actually extraordinary collectively.”
Not solely is the whisky LeClerc’s first expression for Chivas Regal, however it is usually the model’s first 16-year-old launch.
The whisky options notes of candy mandarin, raisins and manuka honey on the nostril, adopted by heat cinnamon and sticky toffee. The palate presents orange marmalade and apple cake, in addition to toasted oak and ginger spice.
The end is described as ‘wealthy, velvety and lengthy’.
Chivas Regal 16-Yr-Outdated may be bought on Amazon for £64 (US$69.99).
Hyslop added: “Charles didn’t simply put his title to this. He was within the room, making selections, pushing again. He gravitated towards the character that defines Chivas Regal: wealthy, layered, constructed with actual depth. What we’ve created collectively is a mix that’s unmistakably his and unmistakably ours.”
The whisky was showcased forward of the Miami Grand Prix this weekend (1-3 Could), the place Leclerc and Hyslop took half in an unique dialog revisiting the steps that made the mix and celebrating what they constructed collectively.
Hyslop retired from the grasp blender function at Chivas Brothers on the finish of 2025 after 40 years within the Scotch trade. Alongside Chivas Regal, he was additionally the inventive drive behind the liquids at manufacturers comparable to Royal Salute and Ballantine’s.
Kevin Balmforth has succeeded Hyslop within the function, having labored alongside him on the Chivas Brothers mixing crew for 25 years.
To observe the marketing campaign spot for the Chivas Regal 16, click on beneath:
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